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Friday, October 31, 2014

A primeval fiend is loose in the ancient metropolis of Malkandrah,
intent on burning it to a wasteland. The city's leaders stand idly by and the
sorcerers that once protected the people are long gone.

Maldren, a young necromancer, is the only person brave enough to
stand against the creature. Instead of help from the Masters of his Guild, he
is given a new apprentice. Why now, and why a girl? As they unravel the clues
to defeating the fiend, they discover a secret society holding the future of
the city in its grip. After betrayals and attempts on his life, Maldren has
reason to suspect everyone he thought a friend, even the girl.

His last hope lies in an alliance with a depraved and murderous
ghost, but how can he trust it? Its sinister past is intertwined in the lives
of everyone he holds dear.

Can only evil defeat evil?

Creating the
setting/world for Necromancer:

A book about necromancers has to feel dark, right? When
creating my world, I concentrated on three major areas: Magic, creatures and
the location.

Magic: I didn't
want lengthy rituals with paraphernalia, chanting and hours of preparation.
This is ostensibly an action book. I decided earlyon that even though my spells are taught and
practised, they can be cast with a single thought and gesture. What I call
"shoot-from-the-hip" magic. Since I insist on world consistency, I ruled
that every necromancer or sorcerer has a pool of power within him, and there is
a limited amount of it beore having to rest. This nicely prevented my magic
from becoming all-powerful. The natural ability for magic is severely limited,
so magic-users are rare in my world.

I
gave each spell an interesting sounding name, my favourite being "Walk the
Bones", and I mapped out what each spell looked like and its color.
Certain spells are effective against certain creatures, so there was a purpose to
each. Necromancers should concentrate on the dead, after all, so I created a
rationale why necromancy cannot be used against the living. Actually it can,
but there are nasty repurcussions, and this is central to the subplot involving
the murderous wraith, Caradan.

Creatures: I
needed lots of ikky monsters and undead, but I wanted them to be unusual. First
off, I had to determine the planes of existence. Some undead can live in the
physical world, such as ghouls and wights and other creatures that have risen
from the grave. The Gray is a monochrome shadow of the real world, home to
various non-corporeal spirits and ghosts. The Deep is a monstrous plane of
infernal and very nasty creatures, like the fire elemental and demons. Necromancer has a solid mix of creature
types, and this is what the Guild of Necromancers does - protects the living
from all these monsters living among them.

And
some of them are nasty indeed! My favourite is the grak, an example of what
happens when a necromancer meddles with other-worldy creatures. The Lochtar is
another sinister example of how man can summon spirits to do his bidding - if
he is very careful! I hope both of these make the reader shudder.

Location: I
wanted my backdrop to ooze with a sinister, horror-filled mood. The city is
huge, full of labyrinthine, gloomy alleys and narrow streets where the
buildings appear to loom and lean inward. If you lived here you would hurry
home before sundown and lock your door. The first chapter shows what nastiness
awaits if you open your door after dark! Then there is the undercity: Miles and
miles of underground sewers, tunnels, crypts and catacombs, with stairs
descending into the bowels of the Earth. Smugglers utilize the sewers and
underground rivers to move goods and people around, and these are not the
people to take home to mother!

High
above the sprawl of the city lurks the moors, often draped in a spooky fog that
rolls in from the ocean. Here, my necromancer hero must venture into a
long-forgotten burial mound, and its occupant is not at all friendly.

Other Details:
Those three items are just the start. I also designed the geopolitical scene.
The city is the capital of one of many kingdoms, and just to be different, I
decided that there was no King at present but a Crown Prince, whose coronation
forms a pivotal scene in the book. A High Council forms an advisory board for
the Prince, comprised of influential aristocrats and leaders of the prominent guilds
in the city. Religion is represented by a pantheon of pagan Gods with prominent
temples in the richer areas of the city. I never create a setting without
purpose, so the High Council, the temples, all of these things are important to
the plot of Necromancer, not just
window dressing.

All
that remained were the details that provide flavour: the food, the drink,
clothing, modes of transport, names of inns and so on. I'm guilty of describing
food a lot in my books, so don't get too hungry reading them!

To
me, the setting is another character in the book. Worldbuilding is such a fun
part of writing fantasy. I want readers to come away feeling that they have actually
lived a while in my world, and that the places become familiar and interesting
enough that they want to visit again. That's my goal. Only the reader can say
if I have succeeded.

Thank you for featuring me on your blog today. :)

EXCERPT:

Sinister

She glanced at me then the ground below, but only
clung tighter. A man appeared at the window, his teeth bared. Four scratches on
his cheek oozed red. White drool speckled his trimmed beard. He clawed at her.
She scrunched her eyes shut and wailed.

With a crack, the casement tore free, and she
plummeted into my arms. We tumbled to the ground and the smoke surrounded us
like a pack of wild animals.

I rolled to my feet, helped her up, and dragged her
down the street, holding my breath as long as I could. She coughed and choked,
resisting my pull. Murder flared in her eyes. I slapped her.

“Trust me. Hold your breath and stay with me.” I
yanked her forward.

I shouldn’t have spoken. Smoke surged down my
throat and I gagged.

Rage ignited inside me. I wanted to tear out her
rabid eyes. My arm squeezed hers until she cried out, and I knew that I could
break it with a twist, could snap her entire frail body. My gaze fixed on her
pale, sweat-soaked throat. It invited me to choke the life from her, watch her
struggle and finally go limp. My pulse quickened. Anger flooded my veins. Then
my hands were around her throat, squeezing, crushing. She coughed and drooled
thick, white saliva. Her blue eyes locked with mine but she put up no
resistance. A smile twitched on her lips as my thumbs dug deeper. Ah, the sweet
moment of superiority. How would it feel to kill? Delicious. It washed the
tight pain from my head.

Something flickered deep within me. This was wrong.

AUTHOR Bio and
Links:

Graeme Ing engineers original fantasy
worlds, both YA and adult, but hang around, and you’ll likely read tales of
romance, sci-fi, paranormal, cyberpunk, steampunk or any blend of the above.

Born in England in 1965, Graeme moved
to San Diego, California in 1996 and lives there still. His career as a
software engineer and development manager spans 30 years, mostly in the
computer games industry. He is also an armchair mountaineer, astronomer,
mapmaker, pilot and general geek. He and his wife, Tamara, share their house
with more cats than he can count.

GIVEAWAY:Graeme will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn host. the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Business is pleasure for Francesca “Frankie” Parker, Montreal’s
go-to guide for all things seductive in the Underground City. “Sexy Tourism for
Canada’s Fetish Capital” is what her card promises, and mon ami, she delivers.
So toss the travel pamphlets and enjoy your tour as Frankie leads you deep into
the Sin City of the North and all your wildest fantasies. If you haven’t
developed a fetish yet, don’t worry – by the time Frankie bids you adieu, you
may have a hard time choosing a favorite!

Conjuring Sex Appeal:
Creating the Cast of Naked Montreal

By Laura Roberts

Naked Montreal is
a relatively unique series, in that my main character, Francesca (aka Frankie),
is one of the only constants in a growing cast of characters. As a tour guide
to Montreal’s Underground City – which includes everything the official
guidebooks don’t want visitors to know about, from sex shops and strip clubs to
restaurants where you can eat sushi off live nude girls – she’s the one that
sets up all of the action and gives background information on the places her
clients visit. So naturally, she needs to be knowledgeable as well as charming,
seductive, dressed to kill, and eager to please.

Frankie’s a fun character, because she’s seen it all before,
but loves to introduce newcomers to her city. My main inspiration for Frankie’s
character came from my own time as a sex columnist in Montreal. I often felt a
bit like a tour guide, writing my weekly columns about different places in the
city that catered to people’s sexual appetites, giving them an insider’s view
of places like the “sexy breakfast” joints where waitresses serve coffee and
pancake topless or the sex shop that aimed to please women rather than men.

Collecting all of these stories each week, there was
inevitably plenty of information I had to leave out, due to space constraints,
and I ended up jotting additional notes into a file that eventually became Naked Montreal. Lucky for Frankie, she
gets to get out of the house and explore all of Montreal’s sexiest secret spots
while she’s on the clock. It’s definitely a better-paid gig than that of a
newspaper columnist, despite what Sex and
the City might have led you to believe.

One writer friend has compared Frankie to Virgil, Dante’s
tour guide through Hell in the Divine
Comedy, although I like to envision her more as a bawdy Beatrice, guiding
visitors through Montreal’s eternal pleasures.

As for my colorful cast of supporting characters, however,
it’s always something new!

Frankie has a few associates from the sex industry that she
calls on for information, advice and companionship. These characters include
Joy Hendricks, the proprietor of Joy Toys (a woman-friendly sex shop); Honey
Lee, a self-made indie porn star and director; El Greco, a male escort who
enjoys the kinky side of sex; and a trio of French-speaking male strippers
named Jean-Marc, Maxime and Luc.

Joy is a completely fictional character, even though there
is a real sex shop in Montreal by the name of Joy Toyz. I thought it would be
fun for the owner of a woman-positive sex shop to be all-business with her
clients, yet eager to tease – and please – an intimate like Frankie. Since they
frequently share business associates (Frankie, as the fixer, will bring groups
of women to the store for parties where they can sample toys in a private
space, sans judgment), they’ve become close enough to flirt with one another.
Joy and Frankie are both open to same-sex relationships, too, so they’ve hooked
up a few times over the years.

Honey Lee (who appears in Part Two) is someone Frankie met
when they were both a bit younger, stripping as a way to pay the bills. Both of
them were ultimately more entrepreneurial-minded and couldn’t stand having to
share their hard-earned dollars with so many men (a pitfall of most strip
clubs), so while Honey branched off into creating adult videos for her own
website, Frankie began setting up her sexy Montreal tours to reel in the
tourist dollars. I haven’t fully explored their relationship yet, but I do know
that Frankie also worked for Honey at some point as an amateur adult film
actress, which she found more rewarding than working as a cam girl for another
local company – and I will definitely be including more scenes with Frankie and
Honey Lee in my forthcoming additions to the Naked Montreal series!

El Greco appears in Part One in a brief cameo. He doesn’t
get to strut his stuff, due to some plot twists, but he’ll be back to show off
the goods to a few lucky ladies in another installment. Although he’s won Mr.
Leather contests in the past and loves men more than women, he’s got the buff
body women love and doesn’t mind swinging both ways to make a buck.

Jean-Marc, Maxime and Luc are a package deal, and a bit of
an amalgamation of different fun-loving, sexy guys I met while dating in
Montreal. These three happen to be male strippers, frequently found onstage at
two of the city’s clubs, giving women plenty to froth over. Jean-Marc likes to
seduce women with his French accent and any number of absurd pick-up lines that
make no sense when translated to English. Maxime is more of a goth and a book
nerd, quoting Rilke and seducing women with poetry he scribbles in a Moleskine
notebook that can always be found in his back pocket. Luc is the rock star of
the trio, concentrating more on his hip-shaking dances to woo women. Together
they occasionally moonlight as escorts, and Frankie considers them her go-to
guys for entertaining female visitors to the city. In Part One we find them
whooping it up in an absinthe bar, teaching three American women how to
properly fly with the green fairy.

Of course, there are always plenty of visitors to Montreal,
and lots of them like to look Frankie up for a good time. Perhaps you will,
too?

I like to know exactly how many people live in my
city at any given time (currently 3.6 million), because I enjoy picturing them
all having sex. I like to know how our male/female demographics break down (48%
male, 51% female) so I can accurately picture the possible threesomes (FFM, not
MMF, though it depends on the swingers in question). I like knowing there are
about 15,000 rainbow flag-waving LGBTQ folks living in The Village; that an
average Montrealer's yearly income is around $68,000 (Canadian, bien sûr), that
the average price of an evening out is around $125, and the median age of city
residents is 39. All of these facts and figures help, in my line of work.

And not for the reasons you might think.

Showing people around town is relatively easy.
Montreal's a beautiful city, full of cobblestones, spiral staircases, and
quaint 19th century French architecture. It has the je ne sais quoi that the
tourists love. But it's not what they come to me for.

They come to have a good time. Good food, strong
drinks, a little dancing – and a little more, if you know what I mean. Not the
average tourist stuff, the Bateau Mouche on the river, dinner on Mount Royal.
They can get that from any guide in the city. They come to me for l'amour.

AUTHOR Bio and
Links:

Laura
Roberts writes about sex, travel and ninjas. Because what's better than hot sex
on a dream vacation while dodging shuriken?

As
the author of the “V for Vixen” sex column, Laura began her career writing
about Montrealers’ sexcapades, which have been collected together for her book,
The Vixen Files. Blending real-life observations with fictional fantasies,
she’s penned parts 1 and 2 of her serial novel, Naked Montreal, along with the
short story collection The Montreal Guide to Sex, saucy poetry volume 69 Sexy
Haiku, and satirical novella Ninjas of the 512. She’s currently hard at work on
a sexy murder mystery entitled The Case of the Cunning Linguist.

Laura
lives in an Apocalypse-proof bunker in sunny SoCal with her artist husband and
their literary kitties, and blogs regularly at Buttontapper.com.

GIVEAWAY:Laura will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card + free ecopy of Naked Montreal to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Audrey Mills is in London to organize a charity fashion event,
where she meets Duncan Collins, the Earl of Thronhill. Confident in her curves,
Audrey doesn't expect Duncan to want more than a holiday fling. But when things
begin to heat up, will she panic and run?

Boss Likes Curves: A Curvy Girl's Billionaire

VP of Development, Sabrina McKenna, has worked hard to get where
she is with Gideon Hotels. When Gideon Marquez asks her to attend several
important business functions, Sabrina agrees. It's only after 2 months of these
functions that she realizes they've been dating. And she's fallen hard for her
boss. Can Gideon convince her what he feels for her is forever? Or will
Sabrina's insecurities make her flee?

Curvy's Cad: A Curvy Girl's Mistake?

Eliza Lyons isn't interested in Craig Grant's attentions beyond
the platonic. He's a playboy and boy does she know better. They lunch, they
gossip, he tells her things about her current dates she doesn't want to hear
and she thinks he'll never outgrow his playboy ways. Then Craig lays down the
gauntlet and informs her he intends to show her what a real seduction is.

EXCERPT:

Countess Curvy: A Curvy Girl’s Earl:

“That was cruel, Ms. Mills,” Thornhill stated. His
eyes twinkled with amusement, and a slow smile spread over his lips. “You’d
curse me to an evening of inane conversation, followed by inappropriate
groping?”

“You don’t strike me as a man to shun inappropriate
groping,” Audrey added with a smile of her own.

“Well…not from the right woman.” He pushed off the
wall, all coiled grace and sex.

Audrey studied him for a long moment. Suddenly
their conversation had turned from a game of fun flirting to more. Much more.
She came to the astonishing conclusion that this shockingly handsome tall drink
of deliciousness was actually into her. She could feel her eyes widen as she
looked up at him.

“I must admit while I’m used to the delivery man or
the odd photographer appreciating my curvaceous figure,” Audrey was surprised
her voice held steady. “You are my very first…earl.”

“It’s good to be first.” His smile was slow and
suggestive, and it took Audrey more than one moment to look away from his lips.
What would they feel like against hers? What did he taste like? She licked her
own lips at the thought, and then regretted it when his eyes followed the move.

Maybe not regret, not if the rush of heat through
her was any indication. No definitely not regret.

“So, what do you say?” Thornhill asked, his voice
low, a caress over her bare skin. “Will you rescind your rejection and
accompany me to dinner tonight?”

A million things went through Audrey’s
mind—everything from Is he joking? to Can I really do this? It would be such a
fantasy to enjoy this man, to joke with him, to kiss him. To have him. Audrey
had never really fallen headlong into the self-esteem chubby girl trap, but she
still knew full well that this type of pairing never happened. Never.

She tore her gaze from his mouth, a small, thin
voice telling her that wondering what he tasted like was the last damn thing
she should be wondering. “Between two evils, I always pick the one I’ve never
tried before.” The Mae West quote raced through her mind, and she heard herself
saying, “I suppose it would nice to experience London with a native.”

AUTHOR Bio and
Links:

Kristabel
Reed lives on the East Coast and loves to explore the steamier side of
historical romance. Historical ménages in particular-they add an element of
danger and discovery to make them all the hotter. Contemporary ménages are a
world unto themselves, and her upcoming Havenbrook Ménages Series will tell the
tale of a small California town.

She
loves reading, watching old movies, and anything Cary Grant. And is always
interested in talking about erotic romance. Because...yum!

GIVEAWAY:Kristabel will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B&N gift card to four randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Privileged Hyde
Park socialite, Susan Leland, wants more from life than being a rich man’s
daughter. She wants excitement, daring, but most of all, she wants to explore
her sexuality. A chance meeting with artist Evan Forrester, a man she’d met
purely by ‘accident’ months earlier, leads Susan on a journey of sensual
discovery that not only includes the handsome Evan, but also sultry torch
singer, Holly Winters. Together, the singer and the artist uncover Susan’s
utmost desires and unleash her inner vamp.

INTERVIEW:

Where
did you get the idea for the novel?

I’d just completed a holiday novella
for inclusion in one of my publisher’s anthologies. It was set in the 1920s.
During my research, I was struck by the outright decadence of the time period.
I found some of the information on prohibition to be very interesting,
including the fact that not everyone had to abide by the laws. One article I
read summed up the era as one of experimentation and sexual discovery. What
better catalyst for an erotic romance?

Your
title. Who came up with it? Did you ever change your title?

I did. I’d honestly found
myself in somewhat of a rut while righting conventional romance (no matter how
steamy). I needed to jumpstart my creativity. My muse seemed to be pointing me
in the direction of erotica and demanding I step out of my comfort zone. So,
the book is named in her honor.

Why
did you pick this genre? What do you like about it?

Actually, it kind of picked me.
There was a submission call for one of my publishers. They were looking for
over-the-top historical romances with nothing off limits. I began the story
with them in mind. However, about 3 chapters in, the call was cancelled. I
thought of setting the story aside, but my muse wouldn’t let me. What I like most
about writing erotica (I now have 3 under my belt) is the freedom to do or say
anything you want, and to have your character’s also step out of their comfort
zone.

Since
becoming a writer, what’s the most exciting thing to ever happen to you?

Probably the most exciting is still
receiving my first box of books in the mail … way back in 1996. A writer never
forgets their first book. Also, hitting the Amazon Top 100 historical authors
on two occasions was a big thrill. Each book brings a new sense of excitement
with it, whether it’s signing at RWA’s literacy event or receiving a great
review.

What
book are you currently reading or what was the last book you read?

Right at the moment, I’m not reading
anything, I’m just writing. The last book I read was a research book on
post-Civil war Mississippi.

What
is your writing process?

I’d like to say I have one, but my
discipline and writing schedule isn’t nearly as tight as I’d like. I do keep a
calendar of writing goals and try to stick to it as best as I can. I’m an
organizer, so each book has its own nook on my computer. Once I’ve created a
virtual home for my new project, I create a basic chapter outline and start my
book-specific media kit. Then, I begin from page one. IF an idea comes to me
that I know I’ll use later, I do keep a “notebook” where I jot down ideas, full
paragraphs if the mood strikes me, or a witty piece of dialogue I may want her
heroine to share with the hero.

At a
book signing, do you just sign your name or do you write a note? How do
you come up with stuff to say?

I always personalize my autographs.
I ask the person’s name and then, most often, I’ll thank them for buying my
book. With so many romance novels out there to choose from, I feel humbled that
they’ve chosen mine. My most used phrase would have to be: Thank you so much
for choosing my book today. It means a lot to me. I wish you happy reading. (Or
some variation of this.)

What
is something people would be surprised to know about you?

Most likely my age. When I tell a
perfect stranger that I write sexy romances/erotica, I get some really weird
looks. Hey, people, romance and even steamy sex doesn’t stop with age. Most
often, it only gets better.

How
do you react to a bad review?

I’d be lying if I said
they don’t affect me. Nobody wants a bad review. I’ve been around long enough
to know you can’t please everyone all the time. However, as I try to impress on
younger/new authors, a review is one person’s opinion only and subjective at
that. When mixed in with a number of good reviews, a bad review can also help
you. It often piques a reader’s curiosity to know whether they’d side with the
few or the many. In the long run, though, chocolate and Bailey’s over ice can
ease the sting of any poor review.

How
did you celebrate the sale of your first book?

With my critique
partners over an expensive steak dinner. Two of us in the four-person critique
group sold to Kensington and became part of their launch books for their new
(at the time) Precious Gems line. It was a joint venture between Kensington and
Walmart, and it died a quick and painful death just three years after it began.

EXCERPT:

Susan
Leland handed her fox stole to the scantily dressed coat-check girl, took
possession of the claim stub, and tucked it into her clutch. Off in the
distance, she heard the smooth tones of jazz music, the clink and clatter of
fine china and fancy glassware, the raucous laughter of the well-heeled patrons
as they dined in elegance and gossiped about their friends and neighbors.

“Good
evening, Miss Leland.”

“Good
evening, Andre. Is Mr. Adams here yet?”

“No,
but Mr. Carlson arrived a few moments ago. I seated him at your usual spot.”

Susan
wound her way through the richly adorned tables until she reached the far side
of the large stage. “Hello, Steven.”

Steven
Carlson stood, captured Susan’s hand in his, pressed a quick kiss to her
fingertips and then waited while she accepted the chair Andre pulled out for
her.

“Hi,
Susie-Q. You look absolutely ravishing, as always.”

“Thank
you. You’re pretty well turned out yourself, for someone who’s spent his entire
day behind a desk, pushing a pencil over some stuffy legal papers.”

“It’s
called a job, Susan,” Steven replied sarcastically. “You should try it some
time.”

“I
do work,” she insisted. “I volunteer three days a month at the home for the
aged. And, I’m thinking about writing a book, a tawdry little novel about a
woman who falls in love with an absolute cad. I’ll call him Steven.” Not
expecting a response, she glanced toward the door and asked, “Any idea how long
we’ll have to wait for Will this evening?”

Steven
turned as she had, scanning the large dining room. “Knowing Will, it’s likely
he’s just now leaving his friend’s apartment on the north side.”

She
settled back into her chair. The revelation that the young man she’d known
since their teenage years had been hiding a huge secret from her sat
uncomfortably on her shoulders. “Is he doing all right since his family turned
him out?”

“He’s
doing fine. Justin is a good man and won’t let any harm come to Will.”

For
as long as their illicit liaison lasts. Susan pursed her lips, holding in the
first thought that came to mind.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Like most authors, Nancy
Fraser began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or,
heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the
English teacher’s pet, which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing.
Still, it was worth it.

When not writing (which is
almost never), Nancy dotes on her five beautiful grandchildren and looks
forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic
Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

GIVEAWAY:Nancy will be awarding a $15 GC to winner's choice of an online book retailer to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and another randomly drawn winner will be awarded a Reader's Coffee Mug (US/Canada - $5 GC for international winners). A $10 GC from the online book retailer ofthe host's choice will be awarded to a randomly drawn host.

the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:

About Me

HI, my name is Alisia. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends. I like to go to the beach and collect sea glass and sand from different states. I like to go bowling and ice skating (both of which I am not very good at but thats what makes it fun). And I LOVE reading :). I have started getting into watching anime (and love it so far). I also have a twin sister. And I am half way through college!!